A highly visible economic development official in Genesee County is one several public authority managers across New York State whose sizeable bonus pay is being questioned.
Steven Hyde is President of the Genesee County Economic Development Center, a quasi-public agency charged with, among other things, creating jobs in the local area.
Hyde earns a salary of $153,000 a year. In 2008, according to documents obtained by Gannett Newspapers, Hyde earned an additional $60,000 bonus.
John Andrews, chairman of the Genesee County EDC, told Gannett that Hyde’s 2008 bonus was incentive pay based on performance. He said no bonus was paid to EDC members in 2009.
A bill has passed the state assembly to ban the practice of bonus pay for employees of public agencies. The State Senate version of the bill has not been passed.

An emotional tribute was given on the floor of the U.S. Senate for New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner died yesterday from a heart attack, nine days after his 80th birthday. New York's senior Senator Chuck Schumer spoke about Steinbrenner's legacy and restoring the Yankees franchise to its past glory. Schumer called the Boss, "a New York icon."

A Caledonia man has been arrested on a weapons charge. Genesee County Sheriff’s deputies say 25-year-old Kristopher Ayers of Caledonia was stopped in LeRoy and was allegedly in possession of five sets of brass knuckles. He was also charged with possession of suspected hash.

Police in Wheatfield say a man found shot to death early Monday morning was the loser in a deadly game of Russian Roulette. Investigators say 18-year-old Nathan Novak now faces a murder charge in connection with the death of 24-year-old Michael Phillips. Authorities say the two were friends and were drinking beer while playing the game at Novak's home on Wheatland Center Road. Police say one man would spin the gun's cylinder with a single round loaded and pull the trigger at the other man. The gun came up loaded at about 1:30 in the morning, leaving Phillips with a fatal gunshot wound to his chest.